Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Feet

February. Where has the month gone? It's been a month full of teaching SAT classes and tutoring. We've been busy playing outside--yes, in Connecticut, in February, the average temperature has been in the 50's. We've been going for walks and sleeping (hooray for Jack learning how to sleep through the night!) We've been up to New Hampshire, where Jack had his first visit to the lake. We've been busy. Most of my free time is taken up with SAT class preparation but I've still managed to sneak in some sewing, knitting and cooking. As I mentioned before, i'm slightly obsessed with Pinterest. But, I decided to take a break from "pinning" all the time and actually start making some of the things I've pinned. My goal was to try one new recipe a week and so far, I have been successful. Actually, last week, we tried 5 new recipes! So that I could still play around with Pinterest, I created a board to keep track of them all here--they've all been great. No complaints.

Lilly has been as chatty as ever. She's quickly become an oldest child and currently enjoys telling Jack, and consequently everyone else who she is with, what to do. We've had a few discussions about how Mum and Dad are in charge, but I'm not sure it's sinking in. There's only so much reasoning you can do with an almost three year old. She's still as sweet as ever with Jack, letting us know when he's asleep, awake, crying (in case we can't hear it for ourselves, we've always got Lilly to remind us..."MUUUUUM, DAAAAAAD, Jack's crying!") It's really helpful, and should we ever go deaf, it's nice to know that Jack will not go unheard. Lilly also likes to let me know that she thinks it's time to feed Jack, or when I should pick him up from his bouncy chair. Sometimes she'll come up to me and say, "Mum, I think Jack needs a cuddle." She's a big sister in training.

Jack is laughing more, and he watches Lilly's every move. Lilly brings him toys, and then trades toys with him when she wants the one he's playing with. Jack has discovered his feet, and this week, has started playing with and sucking on his toes. He looks more like Jim every day. And we have been trying to even the score in photos. Lilly has a two year head start, however, and we have thousands of pictures of her from those two years. It's time to make sure the second child gets his turn (right, Joseph?)

Jack is at a really sweet age. He's still a baby, although not a little one. He's smiley, cuddly and loves to snuggle. He sucks his thumb every chance he gets. He rolls around the floor, and is always startled when he ends up on his tummy. He recognizes us now. He gives Jim huge grins when he walks in the door at night. He laughs whenever Lilly sings him a song, is doing one of her dances, or whenever she's being silly. And, he sleeps. Jack is in bed for the night at 6:00 these days, and then usually wakes up around 4 to eat, before going back to sleep until anywhere from 7-8:30 when he gets up for the day. Since he has started sleeping through the night, I have to say that my favorite mornings are the ones when I put back in his crib after feeding him, only to hear him crying half an hour later. That may sound less than ideal to those who like full nights of sleep, but it means I pick Jack up and bring him to bed with us, where he sprawls himself out and sleeps. Yesterday, he slept in our bed until 9am, where he missed all the hustle and bustle of the morning. I've realized this time around how short lived the "baby" phase really is. With Lilly, I didn't want to bring her into our bed too much because I didn't want it to be a habit. With Jack, I have realized that he sleeps in his crib for his naps and most of the night, and that snuggling with him for a few hours a couple of mornings a week is heavenly. And I know it won't last forever. In fact, it will pass much too quickly so I'm soaking up every cuddle I can get.

Jack had grown out of all his hats, courtesy of Gigi, so this week, I decided to make him a new hat. As luck would have it, it fits him perfectly. Hopefully this will carry him through the rest of winter. And, like 99% of his clothing, the hat is blue and white. There's no mistaking him for a girl!